"B..but...but Miss. Morgenstern. I don't have the money right now." Hodge Starkweather stammered nervously. Clary Morgenstern was as beautiful as she was dangerous. Her heels clicked loudly on the concrete in a dingy cellar and resonated back off of the walls at him like the sound was mocking him. Her guards had him chained to a pillar that was almost too big around for his arms to fit. He sat awkwardly on the cold and wet floor as she slowly circled him. Her expensive fur coat hung loosely off of one of her shoulders while her dress was black with long sleeves and a plunging neck line while it clung tightly to her every curve. Her bright red hair stood out against the darkness of the basement and her porcelain skin. It looked like it would omit the warmth of the sun if you got close enough to it.

"That sounds like a personal problem Hodge." she said to him, sounding like she was talking to a disobedient child. "My father gave you an extra week to come up with a payment and now...nothing." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as she came to a stop in front of him. He didn't dare slide his eyes up her beautiful legs like he had done before. This was not the time for that so he kept his eyes down and on his outstretched feet in front of him.

"It's not my fault." Hodge said pleadingly. "The delivery truck with the electronics was three days late. They are on the shelf at my store now and I am having a sale tomorrow. I can have the money in two days."

"But Hodge," Clary said as she crouched down in front of him. Her two body guards took a small step closer to her because of her proximity to Hodge. "..the second deadline was yesterday. You have already had more than enough time. What am I supposed to tell my father?" Hodge turned his head up to look at her questioning face. It almost looked apologetic. "He will be very upset to hear about your misfortunes that are now spilling over and becoming his misfortunes."

"Please, Miss. Morgenstern." Hodge practically whispered pleadingly to her. "I have three kids."

"And that is why you should make your payments on time." she says scoldingly and stands back up. She looks to the two big and burly men that are at her sides. "Make Mr. Starkweather look pretty for his big sale tomorrow." she said in a slightly happy tone. "Maybe a little black and blue around the eyes and blood red on his lips."

"Yes ma'am." the two men said in unison as Clary leaned against the far wall to watch and folded her arms loosely across her chest like she was bored. The two men smiled as they approached Hodge who began to feel warmth spreading in his pants. He looked down and saw that his fear had gotten the best of him and he had starting urinating on himself.

"Disgusting coward." one of the men muttered as he came closer and pulled the terrified man to his feet while he was still handcuffed behind his back around the pillar. The first blow to his face felt like he had been hit with a barbwire wrapped baseball bat. His head swung roughly to the side while his brain stayed in the same place. Before he could register that pain fully, he was doubling over as much as he could as he choked from the blow the second guy gave to his abdomen.

The beating went on for what seemed like an eternity to Hodge Starkweather. He felt like he had won a million dollars when he heard Clary's voice through the ringing in his ears say, "I think that is good enough."

One of the men stepped away as the other went to free Hodge from the handcuffs. As soon as they were gone, he fell to his knees and then onto his side. The pillar had been the only thing holding him up. "Two days, Hodge. Then things will get serious." he heard her call as the sound of her clicking heels gave away that she was moving towards the stairs.

Clary reaches the top of the stairs and receives a few curious looks from the patrons in the cigar store her father owns as she came through the front of the store with two large men who had blood splattered on their clothes. Someone would go down there and drag Hodge out of the back door. She had done her job and now was moving on. "Who's next?" she asks over her shoulder at Jordan, her favorite of her two guards.

"Jeremy Pontmercy." Jordan says as he looks down at his blackberry. "Says he is two days late and has started to pack his belongings."

"Poor Jeremy." Clary says as Kirk, her other guard, opens the door to the back of a blacked out SUV. She slides in all the way and Jordan slips in the back with her. Kirk shuts the door and moves up front and sits in the passenger seat and gives the driver an address.

Clary slides her fur coat that her father bought her last year for Christmas off and tosses it behind her. She didn't particularly like the two collection days a week that she had to go on. It interfered with her art tutor and her time with her best friend Maia. Although she did enjoy watching men and women shake at the sight of her after giving her appreciative looks. She may be small but she could scare someone witless with just one glance.

Her father was a notorious mob boss that had control of the burrows of Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan and the Bronx belonged to the Herondales. There was a huge turf war forty-five years ago when the two families fought for control of the whole metropolitan area. Things got really out of hand and Clary's grandmother and aunt were killed while the Herondale's boss's wife was killed as well. Because of this, they decided that enough was enough. Both of their clans had been cut in half and they were both feeling the effects of it. The two heads had sat down alone and worked out an uneasy agreement that the Morgensterns would get Brooklyn and Queens while the Herondales got Manhattan and the Bronx. It wasn't ideal but it was what had to be done to maintain what control they still had on their areas. The two heads would meet once a year still to maintain the peace.

"How many more after that?" Clary asks looking over at Jordan tiredly. "I really want to finish that painting of the old church that I have been working on."

"Just two more after this next one." he says in answer to her. She sighs as she looks out of the window at the passing street. Sometimes she wonders what it would have been like if her father wasn't who he was. If her mother hadn't fallen in love with him when he came to collect from the art gallery her pieces were showing in. They have one of the most romantic love stories and it's not like her life was all that bad. Sure there were a few things that she had to do but all in all, it was pretty easy being her.

Meanwhile, in Manhatten...

Jace Herondale walks out of his penthouse apartment wearing a cleanly pressed and tailored to perfection dark blue suit. His golden blonde hair is pushed perfectly back and his golden eyes are alight with the excitement of a new day. He has always been a morning person. His two body guards have been waiting patiently for him on either side of his door. "What's the schedule for today?" he asks as he looks to his left at little Max Lightwood that wasn't so little anymore. He was now 20 years old and as tall as six foot two Jace. He did his best friend Alec a favor by giving him this job for a year so he could save up for college. His parents were rich but cut him off when he refused to become a lawyer like his father and older brother. Apparently, there was a very illustrious line of Lightwoods going back to the Mayflower who were famous lawyers. When he told them he wanted to be an archaeologist, his father practically kicked him out and told him he was a disgrace because he wanted to 'play in the dirt' for a living.

"A meeting with your father's second (Michael Wayland) and then we have a collection." Max says as he scrolls further down on his phone. "Hodge Starkweather." he says as he looks back up to Jace.

"God. Him again." Jace groans. "He was late last month. I know that he also has a store in Brooklyn but I am assuming that we aren't going there."

"No, sir." Max says as he straightens out. "He is supposed to be in his Manhattan store this afternoon."

Just then, the door to his penthouse opens up and a leggy brunette slips into the hallway wearing a dress that was highly inappropriate for daytime. She looks up at Jace and gives him a seductive smile as she walks over to him. She tries to reach up and kiss him but he leans away. "Sorry darling." he says with a slight smile. "What we had was beautiful and I will never forget it but it's over now...Jessica?" Jace says unsurely.

"It's Jennifer." she replies flatly and Jace smile widely as he snaps his fingers like he just remembered. "But I was close, eh? You should give me some credit for that." he says with a smile at her and she narrows her eyes at him slightly before tucking her clutch under her arm and walking towards the elevator without a word.

"You are such a charmer." his other body guard, Trevor, says with a smirk. His eyes then travel appreciatively up and down the scantily clad brunette as she waits for the elevator to arrive.

"You know it." Jace says with a smile as the elevator dings, signalling it's arrival. They all move towards the elevator and join a surprised Jennifer as she watches them with slightly agitated eyes. "Don't be too upset darling." Jace says as they reach the bottom floor and the doors open. "You seemed to enjoy yourself last night. That should give you more than enough memories to hold you over for a few years."

"Ugh." she huffs out clearly annoyed and pushes through the men. Jace smiles amused after her as he watches her storm off.

"I am a charmer." Jace says with an amused tone as he makes his way towards the front doors of his upscale building.

"How are you today, Mr. Herondale?" the doorman asks brightly as he swings the door open for him.

"I am doing great!" he says as he passes and tucks a twenty into the man's coat pocket as he passes. "Let's get this day started." Jace says brightly as he opens the door to a blacked out and bullet proof SUV and slides into the back. "Let's go see what Mr. Wayland wants." he says as he pulls out his phone and pulls up his best friend Alec's number.

He answers on the third ring sounding very professional. "Yes, this is Alexander Lightwood."

"It's me Alec!" Jace says brightly into the phone. "Do you want to have brunch in a few hours? I have a meeting with Michael and then I have a few hours before I have to be anywhere else."

"Um," Alec says and it sounds like he pulls his phone away from his face for a minute, probably to check his schedule. "I actually don't have court then. That sounds good. Where at?"

"There is a new restaurant called Taki's. It's supposed to be top notch." Jace tells him.

"I know the place." Alec replies. "I'll see you at 10?"

"See you then." Jace says with a smile and then hangs up. "Did I ever tell you, Max, that I love my life?" Jace says as he looks to Max beside him.

"Only everyday." he replies with a smile and rolls his eyes.

"I have all the money I could ever want, stunningly amazing good looks, and all I have to do is 'learn the business side of things' as my father would say." Jace says with a wide grin. "He knows I am ready to take over if need be. He just won't admit to me that I am."

"You definitely don't have a lack of the self confidence that is needed for the job." Max says with a laugh as they round another corner and he can see the building they are headed to just up ahead.

"Why would I?" he replies as he smooths down his suit with his hands. "After all, I am stunningly good looking."

"God." Max says exasperatedly. "I don't know how Alec has put up with spending so much time with you over the years."

"It's because of my..." Jace starts to say with smirk before Max cuts him off. "Don't you dare say it again."

Jace lets out a laugh as they pull up to the curb and Trevor jumps out of the front seat. He looks up and down the street and then nods to Max who then opens the door and scoots out. Jace follows quickly behind and walks straight in the upscale building. "Good morning, Gretchen." Jace says as he passes by the forty year old receptionist and gives her a wink.

"Good morning Mr. Herondale." she says flirtatiously back at him as he moves to the elevators in the lobby. "He is on the thirty-first floor today." Gretchen calls out and Jace's happy mood is suddenly gone. The thirty-first floor was the floor where all of the really serious business took place. It had extra security and was swept for bugs and wire taps every morning. Whatever the meeting was about, it was sure to put a damper on his mood even further. The last time he met Michael Wayland on the thirty first floor was when his father had found out about one of his bodyguards had been cozying up to the police man that lived next door to him. He had to be the one to 'handle' the problem. He hated to do that because he actually liked the guy. His cop friend found him the next day after he 'committed suicide' in his apartment.

"Well, here goes nothing." Jace says as he steps onto the elevator when it slides open. Trevor reaches down and pushes the number 31 and up they went. When the doors opened again, he was greeted by Michael's four guards. "Mr. Wayland requested that your body guards remain with us during the duration of your meeting."

"Alright." Jace says and continues forward and down the long hall that leads to Michael's office. When he reaches it, he gives it a few raps and then hears a deep voice say 'come in' and then he opens the door. Jace steps in the grand wood paneled office and looks towards the ornate desk at the far end of the room. Behind it sat Michael as he read something on his phone. Jace shut the door behind him and walked over towards the two wing-back leather chairs that sat in front of him. He looked up and gave Jace a tight smile. "Jace. It's so good to see you again." Michael says as he rises from his chair. He reaches across his desk and shakes Jace's hand.

"It's good to see you too, Michael." he answers back as he unbuttons his suit coat and sits down in the chair on his left.

"How have you been these past couple of weeks?"

"I have been great." Jace replies as he crosses his legs. "What brings me in here today?"

The look on Michael's face grows serious then. He looks across at the handsome young man and his eyes suddenly look more tired and older. "One of your father's oldest friends has been talking to the FBI. We found out two days ago but it took some convincing for your father to believe it. I had to play him the recordings of the person talking with an FBI agent for him four times before he finally accepted it."

This was serious and the reason he was telling Jace was because he was going to have to be the one to handle it. "Who is it Michael?" Jace asks flatly. This is the only part of his job that he doesn't like. Taking the life of someone he has known for a long time.

"It's Amatis Greymark." Michael says sadly.

"Amatis?!" Jace says loudly with surprise. Amatis has been like an aunt to him since he was a baby. She was his father's first wife. She left him when she found out he was cheating on her with Jace's mother who he later married. Even though their marriage ended on bad terms, they still were friends and she started to run the books for the family. Never in a million years did he think that she would betray them. "I can't believe it." Jace says somberly.

"I know what you mean." Michael says sadly. "But we have all of the evidence we need. We have already started to move all of the money to different accounts so the FBI won't get their hands on it. We don't know what she has already told them."

"But why would she turn on us? After all of these years?" Jace asks of no one in particular. The shock of the news was still making it's way through his body.

"I don't know, Jace." Michael replies as he runs a hand through his peppered blonde hair. "Maybe she finally got tired of waiting for your father to come back to her. You know that is what she has hoped for all of these years."

"I'm just still in shock." Jace says.

"I know." the older man says as he pulls out a cigar and lights it up. "But you know what has to be done and you are the best person to take care of it. She won't see it coming from you."

Jace looked back up to his father's second and stared at him blankly. Sure he has had to take care of some of his father's rogue associates before but never any that were as ingrained into his family as Amatis was. "I know. It's just that it's going to be hard to do."

"But it has to be done." Michael adds on and stands up signaling that the meeting was over. Jace rose quickly after him and turned to walk out of the office while buttoning his suit coat. He shut the office door behind him and walked still a little dazed to where his guards were and straight to the elevator. The two men saw the distressed look on his face and decided against asking him what the meeting was about. They would find out soon enough.

The elevator doors opened up and they moved into them and rode the long ride down in a very loaded silence. When they got to the bottom and stepped out, Jace pulled out his phone and dialed Amatis's number. She picked up on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

Jace took a deep breath and when he spoke, his voice was bright and cheery. "Amatis! It's me."

"Good morning Jace." she says brightly back to him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I was thinking that we haven't seen each other in almost a month and I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight and catch up?"

"That sounds wonderful." Amatis replies. He could tell that she was smiling as she talked and he suddenly felt a little bit of anger towards her. How could she do that to him? How could she try to put him and his father in jail if she said she cared as much as she did. "How does eight sound?" Jace asks.

"Eight sounds perfect." she replies.

"Dress nice. I want to take you to your favorite place. That French restaurant uptown." he tells her as they reach outside.

"Jace Herondale." she says playfully. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to woo me."

"Maybe I am." Jace said playfully back at her and she laughed. "Alright. Eight it is."

"See you then." Amatis replies before she hangs up the phone. Jace slides into the back of the SUV and Max is right behind him. He still doesn't want to talk about it so he turns to look out of the opposite window as they take off. 'At least her last meal will be a good one' he thinks to himself as the hurt begins to replace itself with anger.

-Clary

"So you want to take me to a French restaurant this evening?" she asks her on again and off again boyfriend of two years. Right now they are on again but she is looking for a way to break it off permanently. He has become way too clingy and annoying. All he ever talks about is how successful he is and how he knows to play the market like a fiddle. That is one of the reasons that Valentine Morgenstern keeps him around. He is good with money.

"I do." Sebastian replies on the other end of the line. "I have heard nothing but great things about it."

"Alright." Clary says as they pull up to the next collection point. "Listen. I have to go. Pick me up at 8?"

"I'll be there." he says and then starts to say 'I love you' but Clary just hangs up the phone before she breaks it off right then and there. Her father would want her to do it in person to keep everyone on good terms so he could keep his little pet. "God, I can't take it any longer." she says exasperatedly as Jordan looks over to her. "I am done with him. I am breaking up with him tonight."

"Will you need us to be there?" Jordan asks as he gestures between the two burly men.

"No. I think one of Father's guards is on duty with me tonight. He will have to hang back anyway since this will technically be a date. You take Maia out tonight. I know the two of you haven't been on a date in almost a month."

"That's because she tells you everything about us." Jordan says with a huff and opens the door. He holds out his hand for Clary to help her out of the car while Kirk got her coat out of the back and slid it up her arms for her. It was the first week of November and the breeze was cold through the thin material of her long sleeved black dress. "Jordan. I feel like hearing my song while we collect for this one." Clary says as she starts to walk into the small barber shop.

Jordan pulls out the miniature speaker and connects his phone and hits play. The song "Bitch Better Have My Money by Rihanna starts to blare through the speaker. Clary swayed her hips a little to the music as she sang along, the picture of ease as she strolled over to Jeremy. "So..." Clary says nonchalantly and with an easy smile, "my Father tells me that you are over three thousand short for this month."

The older man swallowed harshly as she reached across the counter he was behind and ran her fingers down his shirt lightly and smiled up at him seductively. What they said was true. She could turn you on and scare the life out of you at the same time. "I promise, Miss. Morgenstern." he gets out with a shaky voice. "I will have the money by next week."

"That's no good." she says as she stands back up. "You have two days and then I will be back." She turns and starts to walk out of the barber shop as she sings along to the song loudly,

Ya'll should know me well enough

(Bitch better have my money)

Please don't call me on my bluff

Pay me what you owe me

Ballin bigger than LeBron

Bitch, give me your money

Who ya'll think your frontin' on?

The door swings shut behind her and he finally feels like he can breathe again. He'd better find a way to get that money...and soon. As beautiful as Clarissa Morgenstern is, you definitely don't ever want her to come back.